Clapton

I saw Eric Clapton play in Sheffield on Friday, a superb gig. He started with some of his more recent music, what I call his Phil Collins sound .... he became friends with Phil Collins in the 80's and he's produced several of Eric's albums. Unfortunately, in my opinion, these records have a Phil Collins sound, a drum beat that has a slight echo on it and other things I can't quite put my finger on, basically it sounds like Adult Orientated Rock, not quite bilge, but heading that way. Between these albums he's done some fantastic traditional blues ... From The Cradle, Sessions For Robert J, Riding With The King and Unplugged.

So when the first 3 songs were Collinseque my Dad and I were worried. But we needn't have been. He went on to play some of his best tracks over the last 40 years, some Derek and the Dominoes tracks that I love and never thought I would get to hear him play live. My Dad is a fan his albums Money and Cigarettes and 461 Ocean Boulevard and there were even some from these - unusual, because these albums do not contain any of his most famous songs.

His band were excellent and the 2 lead guitarists could probably have put a show on all by themselves, both superb blues players. Robert Cray was excellent as the support act, my Dad was almost as happy to see him as Eric. The evening reminded me why I learnt to play guitar, I don't think I've picked one up in 2 years, but I'll be bringing mine down from the loft.